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NEWS EDITOR GREG MIGLIORE: The Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG is a decadent and devilish sporting coupe. It invigorates and pampers the driver, and it can adapt to a variety of situations, fast or formal. Unfortunately, I spent a good deal of time stuck in traffic during a horrid commuting session, so I learned more about the comfort of this machine.

The interior is dark and classy, with impressive materials, large supportive seats and a digital interface replacing traditional gauges. It looks sharp, no question.

This is a big, old-school coupe weighing close to two and a half tons -- and it drives big. There’s a confidence, almost an arrogance, to the CL63 on the road, and it draws attention. One guy rolled down his window and yelled compliments to me as we crawled in a slow-moving rush-hour traffic jam. Without B-pillars, the cabin has an airy, elegant feel and it’s the definition of personal luxury.

The engine, on the few occasions I was able to open it up, was strong and powerful, emitting a throaty growl and concentrated anger. The seven-speed is aggressive and efficient, and the steering returns enough weight to satisfy an enthusiast.

The exterior styling is elegant, proportioned and even a bit swoopy. Take a step back and it’s amazing how large the CL63 truly is, and how much presence it has in a parking lot. If you’re going to crack open your money bin for a car this expensive, you might want something that looks a little sportier. But otherwise, it’s hard to argue with the pure luxury and power of a Mercedes AMG.

ASSOCIATE TECHNICAL EDITOR BRAD CONSTANT: I didn’t spend much time in the CL63 AMG, but my first impression when I saw the exterior was good. I was excited to get behind the wheel of an AMG again, and the exterior styling increased my excitement. The front end looks elegant and mean at the same time. The lines down the side of the car and the curving roofline add to the CL63’s appeal.

But I had different feelings when I got inside. I wasn’t a fan of the center console at all. I was also put off by the black-on-black leather and trim. Everything surrounding me seemed to be in the wrong place, or too far away, or the wrong styling. It’s rare for me to find a car that has a cockpit with everything that feels off, and I definitely wasn’t expecting to feel that way in an AMG car.

This is the first AMG model where I haven’t liked the interior styling. My hands-down favorite was the E63 wagon. The center console wasn’t sparse and the buttons were laid out perfectly. The entire layout fit me like glove. Plus the E63 fit my needs, style and desires better than the CL63. And the E63 costs almost $65,000 less!

But a lot of the price difference comes from the added technology available in the CL63. The lane-departure system is outstanding, as is the adaptive cruise control. I also enjoyed the massaging and very adjustable seats.

At the end of my drive I came to the conclusion that the people at Mercedes-Benz are smart. They have multiple AMG classes of cars -- C-class, E-class, CLS-class, etc. -- each with their own interior touches. It is the simple design differences that add variations to the AMG models that help distinguish each model, aside from the exteriors.

To date, the CL63 is my least favorite AMG car. But, at the end of the day, it’s still an AMG, and it is still a blast to drive.

SENIOR ONLINE EDITOR RORY CARROLL: As a $174,035 GT car, the CL63 AMG should do a few things really well. It should look good, seat at least two in extreme comfort and make the distance between any two places seem shorter.

The CL63 AMG is more or less, a coupe variant of the S63 AMG. It’s called a coupe because coupes have two doors. It’s heavier than the S63 AMG, which has four doors, making it either a sedan or a limousine, but not a coupe. The reason it’s heavier than its sedan counterpart is that there is no B-pillar, and the rest of the structure around the doors and windows had to be strengthened to compensate. The lack of a B-pillar makes the view out of the side window . . . well, one thing is for sure, you won’t be seeing a B-pillar when you look out the window.

When Mercedes first showed us the front-to-rear arch of the CLS in 2004, it was charming and original. Then it was widely copied. At times, I’ve loved the originality of that line, but sometimes it makes the cars look like overturned boats. The arch is not absent from this CL63, though it’s been toned down -- here and across the Mercedes line -- to good effect.

Taken as a whole, the car is probably too muscular to be elegant, but too understated to look sporty. It isn’t likely to get its owner noticed, but once it is noticed, it’s easy to appreciate. For a man 10 years older and much wealthier than me, it would be perfect. As it stands, I prefer the more steroidal look of the 2013 BMW M6. However, something about the front of the CL63 AMG encourages left-lane traffic to move over, which is incredibly valuable.

It’s valuable because, like all good GT cars, this one is made to cover ground quickly, which is impossible if you’re being blocked by some dork whose cell phone conversation is blinding him to the fact that there are no cars in front of him, and dozens behind him.

With an open lane in front of it, the big coupe will happily carry its occupants and a big pile of their expensive luggage all the way to 186 mph, according to Mercedes. That top speed is only attainable because our car has been upgraded with the Performance package. So, its 5.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 makes 563 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque, and, more importantly, the top-speed governor has been set to 186 mph instead of 155. That package costs $7,300. As far as I can tell, it’s just a change in tune that bumps up the top speed and the boost, but the carbon-fiber engine cover might be the real key.

Another way to think about it is that Mercedes built an engine capable of producing 563 hp reliably, but then detuned it to make 536 hp so that they could charge customers to bring it back up to spec. But, I’d imagine we’re not supposed to think about it that way.

Regardless, the car is plenty fast. It’s not visceral or even exciting, just fast. It never shakes you or asks anything from you, it just builds speed until you decide to quit.

The interior is no more dramatic than the rest of the car, but it is very comfortable and well put-together. The controls fall to the hand easily. The COMAND system works, for the most part, though certain tasks -- such as muting the nav system and streaming audio from an iPhone -- are far from intuitive.

In a car with such a mature, masculine character, the dainty gear-selector stalk seems even more sad than it does in Mercedes’ other cars. Shifting through the car’s seven gears with a gentle squeeze of my two longest fingers did nothing to make the modern, dual-clutch transmission experience seem any less emasculating.

So, the CL63 AMG does what I expect of a grand touring car. It actually does everything I expected it to do quite well. Is it exciting? Not exactly. But, as a means for traversing a continent at high speed, this car stands head and shoulders above commercial air travel.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR BOB GRITZINGER: When a car stickers up there at the price of an average home in America, it’s hard to say it’s not your cup of tea. But, of all the AMGs in the world, this one is not my favorite -- that’d go to the explosive E63 AMG right now, but a lap in a C63 could change my mind.

This car just seems big and heavy -- at nearly 5,000 pounds, it is -- and the elimination of the B-pillars doesn’t do enough to eliminate the feeling that there’s just too much distance between the driver and the road.

Helluva nice car, a burner to be sure, but unless you lean toward coupes, it’s a tough sell.

ROAD TEST EDITOR JONATHAN WONG: It takes a lot of money to get into this hulking, high-horsepower luxury coupe. In this class it’s this big AMG Benz, a Bentley Continental GT and maybe the BMW M6, though I think the Bimmer features are sportier flavor.

My overall feelings about this 2012 Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG closely match up with what Rory had to say above. There’s nothing that this car does really well. Instead, it is just fairly strong in all areas. There’s plenty of power from the twin-turbocharged V8, but I still miss how ferocious the 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 felt.

Being such a large vehicle that tips the scales at more than 4,800 pounds, you can’t expect it to have killer reflexes, but it doesn’t fall over and dribble around corners. Instead it’s rather composed to be more than respectable. Steering response is OK and the brakes are strong and slows the big fella down with ease.

No complaints about how well the interior is put together because all of the materials are top-notch, though I am ready for a redo on this car. It’s been a good number of years since the CL and the S-class have been redone.

We can sit around and spew on endlessly about how we could get an E63 AMG for less money and how this car as a coupe is a tough sell from a practical standpoint, but it’s all a waste of time. Fact is that people who are buying cars like the CL63 want to have the car that’s further out of reach to most people. It’s a status symbol and they don’t care if something half the price could outrun and out handle it. To those people, I say congrats and enjoy. The CL63 certainly stands out and performs well. But if I was shopping in this class, I would go for a BMW M6 instead.